Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Forget talking CCTV cameras and let's have Daleks

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian thinks if we're going to decimate civil liberties we should stop mucking about with ridiculous talking CCTV cameras and do it properly by flooding the streets with real live Dalek patrols.

The biting humour cleverly highlights the fact that we're actually not very far removed from the ridiculous scenario he outlines. Highly recommended.

"If anyone from the Home Office is reading this, incidentally, it's absolutely imperative that you license the actual, 100% official, BBC Daleks, as seen on TV. Don't just try to create some sort of rip-off close-as-dammit lookalike and hope we'll start calling them "Daleks". We're not idiots. And if you draw a blank with Terry Nation's estate, don't bother negotiating for the rights to the Cybermen instead. It won't be the same. Daleks or nothing. Pull that off and I guarantee we'll willingly accept it. Even Shami Chakrabarti, denouncing the plan on Question Time, would have to start her complaint by saying, "Obviously I love the idea of Daleks as much as anyone, but ..."

So come on, Reid. Stop pissing about with twittering cameras on sticks. The technology for an army of wirelessly controlled mobile CCTV spybots already exists - and it's interactive. There's nothing stopping you. Show some balls for once in your poxy life. Give us the Daleks."